Passing through the crest of a ramp entirely composed of crystals and exiting the cave mouth, everything before me opened up.
The geothermally active earth veins, silver spessartine as large as mountains.
Air thick with potent energy, its inhalation inducing a sense of suffocation.
One had to consciously adjust their breathing rhythm to adapt, to maintain a smooth flow of qi.
"Quite breathtaking, isn't it?"
The Grand Commander exclaimed.
"Could this be the place the Zorah Magdaros has been searching for?"
Aibo asked curiously.
"We're not sure yet, but the Nergigante definitely resides in this area. For now, let's focus on collecting traces,"
The Grand Commander finished, taking a contract from his backpack and handing it to Li Fan.
"The Desperate Black Sword... that's a strange contract name."
Li Fan unfolded the contract.
"You can change the name anytime if you don't like it. After all, only you can take on this contract within the base. I wouldn't have gone through the tedious process of establishing a contract for you to proceed with the investigation, but Fray reminded me to certify the hunter's achievements on the New World. Contracts are the only proof, so I just put one together."
The Grand Commander explained.
"Understood. What's your plan for the next step?"
Li Fan inquired.
"I'm better at exploring alone. Let's split up. If any of us makes a new discovery, just submit it to the base."
"Alright."
"Yes, everyone, please be extremely careful."
The Grand Commander bid farewell to the trio and the cat, then proceeded towards the mountain peak formed of silver spessartine.
Li Fan felt that in terms of in-depth investigation, the Grand Commander couldn't match the squad.
However, in terms of wilderness survival, the other party was likely on the same level as a master of the wild.
With some time left before nightfall, Li Fan divided the squad into two groups.
Yudora and Aibo formed one group, tasked with finding a suitable area to establish a camp.
Li Fan and Dilu formed the other, to conduct preliminary exploration around the Elder's Recess.
After advancing for a short while, a wide downward slope appeared before them.
Observing the regular tire tracks on the slope, Dilu surmised that a monster similar to a Radobaan had been active here.
In front of dense craters formed by explosions on the ground, Li Fan, who had approached to collect traces, hadn't even begun when the guiding insect cage at his waist flashed blue, and a swarm of insects emerged.
Not long after, several black thorns embedded in the ground were revealed.
"It's Nergigante's traces, meow!"
Dilu exclaimed in surprise.
"This place is indeed unusual..."
Li Fan murmured softly.
"Yes, meow, I feel..."
Dilu vaguely sensed something was amiss but couldn't articulate it.
"The traces are too close together. First, a Brachydios, then a Brute Tigrex, and now a Nergigante. I've never seen such a dense distribution of monster activity."
Li Fan stated.
Monsters generally had their own territories, especially powerful ones.
These numerous, alternating traces gave a feeling of extreme abnormality.
"That's right, meow, that's the feeling!"
Dilu agreed wholeheartedly.
"In such a chaotic area, it seems I'll need to assign two bodyguards to Huihui."
"Huihui needs bodyguards, meow?"
Dilu asked, astonished.
"Yes, the nature of the energy she's absorbing has changed. Theoretically, she needs an adaptation period. At least until she can fly freely, Huihui's safety must be guaranteed."
Li Fan explained.
The man and the cat slid down the slope, soon arriving inside a cave formed of Dragonite crystals.
The monster traces found here were significantly reduced, and the crystalline rock walls overhead blocked any aerial reconnaissance.
Considering it a decent resting place, Li Fan released Huihui, Lei Ge, and Xi Xi.
Huihui stood still for a minute, seemingly unable to believe that such an energy-rich place could exist.
The high-purity energy contained within the shimmering silver crystals was incomparable even to the finest Starstone.
Dilu took off her backpack and released over a dozen Elder Dragon insects from the insect cage.
This quantity of Elder Dragon insects was certainly not enough to satisfy Lei Ge's needs, but within the Elder's Recess, Li Fan believed the Elder Dragon insects had a high chance of multiplying.
Coupled with the weight limit of the long-distance backpack, he had only brought a small amount.
In contrast, Xi Xi remained very calm.
"Lei Ge, Xi Xi, the important task of protecting Huihui will be entrusted to you."
"Roar! Roar~"
Xi Xi responded with a roar, indicating its capability.
Lei Ge, however, was more cautious, stating that the number of Elder Dragon insects was insufficient and that he might need to prepare further.
*Crunch~ Crunch~*
A crisp chewing sound echoed.
Li Fan and the monsters turned to look, and saw a blue-scaled lizard at the base of a giant crystal pillar, facing away from him, gnawing on the Dragonite crystals.
*Crunch~ Crunch~*
The blue-scaled lizard was enjoying its meal when it sensed a shadow looming over it from behind. It twisted its body close to the ground and looked back.
The pupils in its yellow round eyes suddenly contracted. Its jaw, adorned with serrated protrusions, stopped mid-chew, frozen in a half-open state.
*Burp~ Roar~*
After standing stunned for tens of seconds, the seemingly naive blue-scaled lizard let out a burp, followed by a hoarse roar.
"What does that mean, meow?"
Dilu asked curiously.
"The Lavasioth says... ah! I'm going to die."
Li Fan translated.
*Crunch~ Crunch~*
Seeing that the monsters hadn't attacked, the Lavasioth continued to chew.
"We mean no harm. Can you tell us about the situation here?"
Li Fan inquired.
The Lavasioth's gaze swept over Huihui, Xi Xi, and Lei Ge, finally noticing that the small creature attempting to communicate with it was quite diminutive.
*Burp~ Roar~*
"Then I'll ask, what is the ecological order here?"
Seeing that the Lavasioth didn't refuse, Li Fan began his inquiry.
"Roar~"
"Only monsters that are alive have the right to eat... Do you have any special survival skills that allow you to live here?"
Li Fan asked curiously.
The Lavasioth tilted its spherical head, its cheeks puffing out.
*Puff~ Puff~ Puff~*
Three dark red spheres were spat out.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Three consecutive explosions rang out.
"A decent defensive move, though the explosion delay on the crystal spheres is a bit high."
Li Fan commented.
*Crunch~ Crunch~*
The chewing sound resumed, and the Lavasioth once again lowered its head to the base of the giant crystal pillar, continuing to gnaw on the Dragonite crystals.
"Since even the Lavasioth can live here, it must be safe enough... Let's begin then."
Li Fan made his decision.
Finding a relatively narrow cave surrounded by Dragonite crystal walls, Li Fan guided Huihui inside.
Xi Xi and Lei Ge guarded the cave entrance, closely monitoring the surroundings.
*Clang!*
A sharp, piercing metallic clang echoed. Huihui dug its claws into the ground, its twin gun-wings unfurling.
*Whoosh~*
Visible blue ripples emanated from the crystalline rock walls, spreading towards Huihui.
"The energy has been directly materialized under Huihui's guidance. It seems it's really possible..."
Li Fan exclaimed in amazement.
His judgment was correct. If any monster could absorb the life energy contained within the Dragonite crystals, then Huihui, who could forcibly absorb and utilize the energy of other Elder Dragons, should be able to master it.
After absorbing for over ten minutes, Huihui let out a cry, indicating a desire to try flying.
Li Fan refused, stating that flying would have too wide an impact. It was better to be conservative until everything was confirmed to be normal.
So, Huihui began its jetting tests within the narrow cave.
*Boom... Boom~ Boom~ Boom!*
From the tips of its gun-wings, after a small amount of black smoke emerged from the nozzles, strips of dazzling blue flames erupted.
"I'll put on my goggles first... The left one's jet nozzle is normal, meow!"
Dilu, illuminated in bright blue, shouted her report.
"The right one's jet nozzle is normal!"
Li Fan gave his observation at the same time.
Once all six nozzles were confirmed to be normal, the extreme jetting test began.
*BOOM!!!*
As the jetting force intensified, the six blue flames suddenly thickened.
*Sizzle! Sizzle~*
At this moment, a large amount of red and black lightning flashed across Huihui's body.
The red and black lightning clashed and intersected with the blue ripples, causing small explosions of energy to flash rapidly.
"Something's wrong... Stop Huihui quickly!"
As soon as Li Fan spoke, a blinding blue light struck.
*Boom! Whoosh~*
A tremendous roar and countless crystal fragments flying out of the cave told Xi Xi and Lei Ge that something had gone wrong inside.
However, someone had to guard the entrance, so they could only remain on guard, filled with anxiety.
A moment later, Li Fan pushed away the crystal pillar that was pressing down on him and, enduring the pain, got to his feet.
"Ah... Dilu, where are you?"
"Uh~ I'm fine, meow. The disc has been inserted..."
Hearing Dilu's weak response, Li Fan realized the reason for his healing.
"Dilu! Where are you?"
He called out again to confirm, but there was no further response. He then began searching amidst the scattered crystal fragments.
Fortunately, Dilu also carried a guiding insect. Beneath where the insect circled, he dug through the piled crystal fragments and finally found her.
"No obvious external injuries, and her heartbeat is stable. It seems she just passed out from the impact."
Confirming that Dilu was not seriously injured, Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief.
*Whoosh~*
At this moment, Huihui, its body covered in crystal fragments and lying on its side, pushed itself up with its forelegs.
Li Fan saw that the air intake grille on Huihui's chest was completely shattered, and the crimson Dragon Core within was nowhere to be seen.
"How could this happen?"
"Roar~"
Huihui let out a cry and thrust its left gun-wing into the piled crystal fragments.
*Slash~* The Dragon Elemental energy, tinged with red and black lightning, immediately reacted with the scorching carapace.
Li Fan hugged Dilu and walked closer to observe.
He saw the source of the lightning: it was the crimson Dragon Core encased by the crystal wall.
Li Fan pried open the cat's mouth, stuffed three black pill-shaped secret medicines inside, and then sat on the ground to ponder.
Huihui could easily absorb and utilize the life energy contained within the Dragonite crystals, meaning its metabolism wouldn't reject it.
However, when the intensity of its usage reached a certain level, a rejection reaction from the Dragon Elemental energy would occur.
"Huihui, when the explosion happened, did you utilize the crimson Dragon Core?"
Li Fan inquired.
"Roar!" Huihui gave an affirmative reply.
"That makes sense. If it were just circulating life energy within its body, even if it came into contact with the crimson Dragon Core in its chest, there wouldn't be a problem. But if it were to utilize the crimson Dragon Core for extremely high-intensity energy output, the mixture of the two energies would inevitably... Wait, why would Dragon Elemental energy and life energy conflict?"
Li Fan had roughly analyzed the cause but quickly encountered a new problem.
Huihui's body could adapt to both energies, yet they were incompatible with each other.
No, the explosion just now should be called a violent rejection.
"Could it be that life energy and Dragon Elemental attributes have some kind of counter-effect..."
Li Fan began to speculate.
"Roar~"
Huihui looked down at its hollow chest and let out a mournful cry.
"Don't worry, Huihui, on this land, you'll have many more opportunities."
"Roar?"
Huihui seemed unable to comprehend.
"The residual life energy here, when highly concentrated, can produce crystals called Dragon Vein Stones. Given your energy absorption speed during the test just now, as long as you can release energy quickly and maintain a very high metabolic cycle, a new Dragon Orb will be generated soon."
Huihui pondered for a moment and poked the crimson Dragon Core with the tip of its gun-wing.
It indicated that even if a new Dragon Core were generated, it still wouldn't solve the problem of attribute incompatibility.
"Your concern is valid, but a stone entirely born from life energy will no longer be a crimson Dragon Core."
Li Fan informed it.
Huihui immediately froze, realizing it had overlooked a crucial point.
"Roar?"
"I don't know what this stone is called, but its effect... seems to be stronger than this one. By the way, do you still want this crimson Dragon Core?"
Li Fan looked at the crimson Dragon Core, a possibility suddenly occurring to him.
Huihui's eyes showed reluctance, but this stone couldn't coexist with the newly acquired energy. Keeping it would only increase the risk of explosion and held little other meaning, so it indicated it no longer needed it.
"Alright, I'll handle it properly for you."
Li Fan looked at the crimson Dragon Core, his mouth splitting into a grin.
Half an hour later, the unconscious Dilu's ears perked up, and she awoke in a panic.
"There was an explosion, meow! Everyone run... Ugh..."
She realized she was on Li Fan's back and sighed in relief.
"Is Huihui okay, meow?"
"It's fine. How are you feeling?"
"A bit dizzy, meow."
"In the future, when you encounter danger, don't rush to insert the disc. Find a safe place to shelter first. I'm not that fragile,"
Li Fan instructed.
"Understood, meow... What do we do now?"
"Let's measure the distance and see where Huihui should stand in the cave."
Li Fan said, stroking the crystalline rock walls.
"Is the standing position important, meow?"
Dilu asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, because Huihui will be here for a long time. If the tail flames spray onto the crystalline rock walls, prolonged scorching could cause a collapse."
Li Fan explained his reasoning.
He wasn't concerned about damage from falling debris, but rather the potential collapse of the cave ceiling, which could expose Huihui.
After all, the strips of blue flame jets were too dazzling.
After selecting the position, Huihui took its stance with its head slightly protruding from the cave entrance.
It glanced at Lei Ge on the left and Xi Xi on the right.
Huihui felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange.
*Boom... Boom!*
Life energy was rapidly absorbed, and the six tail flames were expended.
Huihui's body entered a state of extremely high metabolic circulation.
This exhilarating feeling of squandering energy, while slightly less intense than flying at high speed in the sky, was still quite stimulating for the long-starved Huihui.
The Lavasioth, observing the cave entrance flashing with blue light, fell into contemplation.
Zhao Lala reminds you: Please remember to favorite after reading.